Heretofore, robots having end effector mechanisms or gripper mechanisms have been utilized in a number of manufacturing operations for gripping an article in one location, transporting the article to another location and releasing the article. These robots have been effective in facilitating such manufacturing operations and saving labor costs with respect to heretofore performed manual operations. Notwithstanding, such robots with end effector mechanisms have not been utilized to a great extent in textile article fabricating or handling operations since conventional end effector mechanisms on such robots are normally designed for gripping rigid articles and will not function to grip flexible and somewhat fragile textile articles. Moreover, there is a need in many textile fabricating operations, where the articles are to be transported from one location to another, to maintain the textile article or at least the leading edge thereof in a predetermined orientation.